1993–94 FA Premier League
}} The 1993–94 FA Premier League was the second season of the Premier League, the top division of professional football in England. Manchester United won the league by eight points over nearest challengers Blackburn Rovers, their second consecutive league title. Swindon Town finished bottom of the league in their first season of top-flight football and were relegated along with Sheffield United and Oldham Athletic. New league sponsors From the start of the 1993–94 season, the FA Premier League was sponsored by Carling Breweries. Promoted teams Newcastle United and West Ham United were promoted to the Premier League from the First Division as champions and runners-up respectively. The last promotion place was won by Swindon Town after their victory over Leicester City in the 1992–93 playoff final.Football Statistics Archive Newcastle had been relegated from the old First Division in 1989 and West Ham United had been relegated the season before the start of the Premier League. Swindon had never played top-division football before. They had won the old First Division playoffs in 1990 but were later denied promotion because of financial irregularities. Transfers Just before the start of the season, Roy Keane became the most expensive footballer signed by an English football team. The 22-year-old Irish midfielder left relegated Nottingham Forest for Manchester United for a fee of £3.75 million. During the 1993–94 season, many players were transferred between Premier League clubs for fees exceeding £1 million. They included David White (Manchester City to Leeds United), David Rocastle (Leeds United to Manchester City), Roy Wegerle (Blackburn Rovers to Coventry City) and Tim Flowers (Southampton to Blackburn Rovers). At £2.5 million, Flowers became the most expensive goalkeeper in English football. Personnel and kits (as of 8 May 1994) Manchester United's Premier League and FA Cup double Manchester United led the 1993–94 Premier League for much of the season, eventually finishing as champions eight points ahead of runners-up Blackburn Rovers. They also won the FA Cup after beating Chelsea 4–0 in the final, thereby becoming only the fourth team to achieve this feat in the 20th century (after Tottenham in 1961, Arsenal in 1971 and Liverpool in 1986). Runner-up clubs Finishing runners-up in the Premier League were Blackburn Rovers. In third place came Newcastle United, whose 22-year-old striker Andy Cole was the Premier League's leading scorer with 34 goals in 40 games, with a total of 41 goals in all competitions. In fourth place came Arsenal, who achieved success in European competition with a 1–0 win over Parma in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final. Relegated teams Swindon Town managed just five league wins all season and were relegated in bottom place having conceded 100 league goals in 42 games. Oldham Athletic, who had avoided relegation on goal difference the previous season, were relegated on the final day of the season after failing to win at Norwich City. The final relegation place went to Sheffield United, who were relegated from the top flight after a 3–2 defeat at Chelsea, with the winning goal coming in injury time (a draw would have been enough to survive, and a loss would have still been enough had Everton not won their final match). As of 2012, only one of these sides has returned to the top flight – Sheffield United in 2006, and they were relegated after one season, once again on the last day requiring only a draw to survive. Player and managerial awards *PFA Players' Player of the Year was Eric Cantona, who scored 25 goals in all competitions that season.England Player Honours - Professional Footballers' Association Players' Players of the Year *PFA Young Player of the Year was Andy Cole, the leading Premier League goal scorer for the 1993–94 season.England Player Honours - Professional Footballers' Association Young Players of the Year *Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year was Alan Shearer, second highest Premier League goal scorer for the 1993–94 season.England Player Honours - Football Writers' Association Footballers of the Year *Alex Ferguson was the first recipient of the FA Premier League Manager of the Year. Managerial changes *'Chelseas new manager for the 1993–94 season was former Swindon Town manager Glenn Hoddle, who was replaced at Swindon by former assistant John Gorman. *'Coventry City''' manager Bobby Gould resigned in December and was succeeded by Phil Neal, who had already managed Bolton Wanderers and assisted Graham Taylor in the England team. *'Everton' manager Howard Kendall resigned in December, marking the end of his second spell as manager, and was replaced by Norwich City's Mike Walker. *'Ipswich Town' manager John Lyall moved up to the role of Director of Football prior to the start of the season, with Mick McGiven taking over the manager's duties. With the club deep in relegation trouble however, McGiven was demoted back to being assistant manager in February, and Lyall was reinstated as manger. *'Liverpool' sacked Graeme Souness in January and named long-serving coach Roy Evans as their new manager. *'Manchester City' sacked Peter Reid four games into the season and replaced him with Oxford United manager Brian Horton. *'Norwich City' appointed assistant John Deehan as Mike Walker's successor after their manager moved to Everton. *'Southampton' sacked Ian Branfoot in January and replaced him with Exeter City's Alan Ball. *'Tottenham Hotspur' chairman Sir Alan Sugar dismissed Chief Executive Terry Venables and head coaches Doug Livermore and Ray Clemence and named West Bromwich Albion's Osvaldo Ardiles as their new manager. Final league table Results Season statistics Top goal scorers Awards Managers of the Month See also *1993–94 in English football References and notes External links *1993-94 Premier League Season at RSSSF 1993-94 Premier League Premier League Premier League de:Premier League 1993/94 el:Αγγλικό πρωτάθλημα ποδοσφαίρου ανδρών 1993-94 es:Premier League 1993/94 fr:Championnat d'Angleterre de football 1993-1994 ko:프리미어리그 1993-94 hy:Պրեմիեր Լիգա 1993-94 (Անգլիա) it:FA Premier League 1993-1994 lb:Premier League 1993/94 hu:1993–1994-es angol labdarúgó-bajnokság (első osztály) mr:एफ.ए. प्रीमियर लीग १९९३-९४ ja:FAプレミアリーグ1993-1994 no:FA Premier League 1993–1994 pl:Premier League (1993/1994) ru:Чемпионат Англии по футболу 1993/1994 sr:Премијер лига 1993/94. sv:FA Premier League 1993/1994 zh:1993–94賽季英格蘭超級聯賽